Secret Santa
by Rockyrocks919
Summary: It's Christmas time and Annabeth is having a hard time coming to terms with her break up with Percy. They try to avoid each other, but their friends won't let that happen. Thalia set them up and now they both have each other as their secret Santa. Will the Christmas season and their love for each other bring them back together, or is their relationship already too damaged? AH


Hey, guys! Okay, so I've never done a Christmas story before, and I thought it would be really fun to go ahead and write one. It will probably be only a few chapters long, but who knows? I really want to finish it before Christmas, so I'll probably put my other stories on hold for a while unless I get a really great idea. They are **ALL HUMAN**, so no Greek gods or monsters or anything of that nature!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO!

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Annabeth's POV

"Oh, my gosh," I mumbled when I saw him. He was standing off to the side, drinking a Dr. Pepper and talking to Grover. Percy wasn't much of a party person, either, so I'm guessing Thalia forced him to come, too. He started laughing at something Grover said and then snapped his head around at the sound of a piece of glass breaking. I immediately brought my hand up to cover my face, hoping he wouldn't see me. If he saw me, he didn't let on that he did. I brought my hand down when I was sure he was talking to Grover again.

I turned around and walked down the hall, searching for Thalia. I finally found her in the kitchen, which was overcrowded with everyone fixing dinner. She was looking in the oven, appearing to be checking on the turkey. Of course, I knew better. Thalia couldn't cook to save her life. She was obviously just trying to look busy. I tapped on her shoulder and she looked up at me with a smile.

"Hey, Annabeth. Enjoying the party?"

"Why didn't you tell me Percy was going to be here?"

"I didn't think it would be a big deal." She shrugged it off like I should be perfectly happy with this arrangement.

"You didn't think it would be a big deal?! Thalia! You forced me to come to your Thanksgiving party and then invited my ex? It's only been two weeks! What's wrong with you?"

"But, Annabeth, a few days ago, you told me that you were completely over him. Is that not true?" I sighed in frustration. Why did she have to be like this?

"Yes, I'm over him, but that doesn't make it any less awkward! You should have at least warned me!"

"If I had told you, would you have come?"

"Of course not," I told her.

"Exactly. Now, stop being a baby and let's go eat dinner."

"But Thalia-"

"Look, Annabeth. Sure, he's your ex-boyfriend, but you guys only dated for, what, a year?"

"Eighteen months, actually."

"Whatever. You guys were best friends for so much longer and I don't want you to ruin such a great thing just because you dated for a while. It's not fair to either of you, and I'm not going to stand by and watch it happen."

I shook my head. "Things are different now. We can't just go back to the way things were."

"Stop making excuses, Annabeth, and just get your butt out there. I'm starving and I'm not going to just argue with you when I could be eating." She opened the oven again and stared at the turkey. She picked up a fork and started poking it at different spots."

"Aren't you supposed to turn it on its side?" I asked, trying not to laugh. She started to turn it over before she realized that I wasn't being serious.

"Shut up. Go see if Piper needs any help." Piper was standing on the other side of the kitchen finishing up the casseroles. Luckily, a few of our friends could actually cook and Jason was able to save the turkey. Thalia walked out to the living room and announced to everyone that it was time for dinner. I tried to help Piper, but she didn't seem to need any, so I was just standing to the side awkwardly as I waited for her to finish.

"Everything okay here?" Jason asked Piper.

"The casseroles are ready, but I'm not sure how they taste yet."

"I'm sure they're great," he assured her. Piper grabbed a fork and took a little bit of the green bean casserole. She put the fork in Jason's mouth and he nodded approvingly.

"That tastes great!"

"You're just saying that." She turned back towards the casserole so he couldn't see her face, but she was smiling.

"No, I'm not. You're a great cook." He suddenly grabbed her waist and spun her around. Before I knew it, they were kissing and I turned away.

"Um, I'm just going to go help Thalia or something. Yeah..." I said awkwardly as I walked away. Normally, I loved seeing them together. Jason and Piper were always so happy and so cute together. Ever since the break up, though, seeing my friends so happy in their relationships only made me sad. I wasn't sure what I would do if I ever saw Percy that happy with another girl.

A few minutes later, all the food was finished and lined up on the counter. I hung back for a while as I looked for Percy, but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe he realized I was here and went home. I really hoped that was the case; I just wasn't ready to confront him yet.

I got in line behind Katie and Travis, who were, of course, holding hands and being all romantic. It was finally my turn to get food when out of nowhere, Connor Stoll squeezed in front of me like he wanted to be next to his brother.

"It's nice to see you too, Connor," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, hey, Annabeth," he grinned. "I didn't see you there." Then he turned right back around like it was no big deal that he just skipped me in line.

"Connor, could you-" I started to say, but he wasn't listening. Instead, he turned and looked right past me.

"Hey, Nico, man! Long time no see! Come over here!" Within the next few seconds, everyone who was behind me in line was suddenly standing in front of me. A few of them said hi, but most just started talking to their friends that they haven't seen since an hour ago. I groaned in frustration.

"Don't worry about me, guys," I muttered. "I'll just eat whatever scraps are left when you get through the line." Surprisingly, though I had my food just a few minutes later and there was actually quite a bit left. I guess all the pigs who cut me weren't that hungry, after all. When I made my way to the table, there were only two empty spots left and I was the last to sit down. I took a huge bite out my turkey and chewed it until I realized something weird was going on. Everyone was talking, but no one was eating yet. What were we waiting for?

"There he is!" Grover announced. "We saved you a plate." Suddenly, I understood why Grover had two plates of food, and it wasn't because he was just that hungry. I looked up and my fears were confirmed. Percy hadn't left; he was standing right here.

"I looked everywhere, G-man," he was saying as he grabbed a soda from the ice chest. "But I couldn't find your i-pod charger..." he trailed off as he stood up and saw me. I looked away awkwardly, trying to avoid his gaze. Everyone else was staring at us like they were watching a dramatic movie.

"Well, why don't you sit down, Percy?" Thalia asked. I hoped he wouldn't sit somewhere that I would have to look at him the whole time, but then I realized that the only seat left was the one right next to mine. There was no way this was a coincidence. They must have planned all of this out. Forcing both of us to come to the party, cutting me in line so I would be the last one at the table, sending Percy on a wild goose chase in search of a charger for an i-pod that Grover broke last week. It should have been obvious from the beginning. Thalia never even has parties! The whole thing was a set up. I really wished I hadn't agreed to this.

Percy sighed and made his way towards the chair next to mine. Grover handed him his plate and he stared at it. I started looking around the room in every direction but to my left. Just as I thought the situation couldn't get any worse, Piper grabbed my hand from where she was sitting on my right. I looked around the table to realize that everyone was holding hands now except for me and Percy.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We're going to say grace," Thalia said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But you never pray!" I complained. Thalia was just about the least religious person I knew.

"So, what?" she said. "It's Thanksgiving. I think we should give thanks, don't you?" I glared at her, but she only smiled.

"Come on, you two," Grover elbowed Percy. "You're not going to ruin dinner for everyone else because you don't want to hold hands, are you?" Everyone was looking at us expectantly and I realized I didn't have much of a choice. I put my hand out and Percy took it, but we still refused to look at each other. Thalia seemed satisfied and started praying. I didn't really hear what she was saying because I was so overwhelmed with what was going on. I couldn't believe I was holding his hand, just like old times.

The prayer seemed to last forever. For someone who wasn't religious, Thalia sure had a lot to thank God for. Finally, it was over and I could let go of Percy's hand. The dinner was still really awkward, but everyone else was talking the whole time, so I tried not to think about it. When we were finally finished eating, I was the first to get up. I went straight to the kitchen and started washing the dishes. I wasn't a big fan of cleaning dishes on Thanksgiving, but anything was better than being forced to sit out there with my ex.

"What do you think you're doing?" Thalia asked when she walked in a few minutes later.

"I could ask you the same," I told her. "I can't believe you thought I wouldn't figure out that this was all just a set up to get me and Percy back together."

"I knew you would figure it out, Annabeth, but I knew you wouldn't catch on until it was too late, and I was right. Anyways, you don't have to do the dishes. Dinner is over and everyone is going back to partying."

"Actually, I think it's about time that I get going." I closed the dishwasher and set the rag down. Thalia sighed.

"Fine. I guess I can't keep you here. But before you go, you need to pick your secret Santa!" I sighed.

"Okay, whatever." She left the room and came back a few seconds later with a Santa hat full of little slips of paper. I pulled one out and started opening it.

"Don't open it here! That's bad luck!" But I already had it open and I looked down at the name. _Annabeth._

"Thalia, I got myself."

"I told you it was bad luck. Here, pick again." She put the hat out again and I reached in once more. I opened up the paper and saw the name that had been on my mind for the past two weeks. _Percy._

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So, what do you guys think? Do you like it so far? Review and let me know what you think! I already have a lot of ideas, but you can let me know if you have some, too.


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